According to Engadget, Ubisoft has announced a new game prototype called “Teammates” featuring voice-controlled AI teammates that understand both natural language and visual context. The project builds on their Neo NPCs demo with Nvidia from 2024 but is already being tested in a closed playtest with “a few hundred players.” The prototype is a first-person shooter set in a dystopian future where players direct AI characters to locate five missing team members. Ubisoft created three AI NPCs: Jaspar, an assistant aware of game lore, plus Pablo and Sofia, robotic characters physically present in the game. Footage shows the AI understanding contextual commands like “stand behind a barrel” based on where the player is looking. Ubisoft’s Data & AI Director Rémi Labory claims this technology enables personalized experiences traditional development can’t achieve.
The promise versus the reality
Here’s the thing about AI teammates in games – we’ve heard these promises before. Remember when every game was going to have revolutionary AI that would change everything? And then we got companions who couldn’t navigate around a rock. Ubisoft is at least being honest that this is an “experimental research project” rather than claiming it’s the next big thing.
But the visual awareness aspect is genuinely interesting. An AI that understands “stand behind that barrel” and actually knows which barrel you’re looking at? That’s beyond simple voice command systems. It suggests they’re building something that could actually feel natural rather than just being voice-activated menu commands.
The inevitable chattiness problem
Now, Engadget noted the AI characters seemed “overly chatty and verbose” – which honestly tracks with every AI assistant I’ve ever used. They’re experimenting with personality options including one called “Bad Cat and Good Boy,” which makes me wonder if we’re heading toward AI teammates with the personality depth of a Twitter bot.
Think about it – do you really want your tactical shooter experience interrupted by an AI companion that won’t stop talking? The balance between useful interaction and annoying chatter is going to be crucial. Traditional game development carefully scripts when characters speak for pacing reasons – can generative AI match that discipline?
Ubisoft’s AI track record
This isn’t Ubisoft’s first AI rodeo. They’ve got Ghostwriter for generating dialogue drafts and recently admitted to publishing Anno 117: Pax Romana with AI-generated loading screen art. So they’re clearly committed to integrating AI across their development pipeline.
But here’s my question: when this technology inevitably makes its way into actual Ubisoft games, will it enhance the experience or just become another gimmick? The middleware they’ve built works with both Snowdrop and Anvil engines, meaning we could see this in everything from Assassin’s Creed to The Division.
The real test ahead
The fact that they’re already testing this with hundreds of players is significant. Most AI demos stay in controlled environments, but putting it in front of real gamers? That’s where you find out if your brilliant AI teammate keeps getting stuck on geometry or gives away your position because it misunderstood a command.
Basically, the technology sounds impressive, but the proof will be in whether it actually makes games more fun to play. Or whether we’ll all be screaming “SHUT UP, SOFIA!” within five minutes. The line between revolutionary AI companion and annoying digital pet is thinner than you might think.
